Orientalism In M. Butterfly

Discourse does not have a general definition , but Foucault ( as cited by Mills, 2004) have stated that the most effective ways of think of discourse is" practices that systematically creates the object which they speak" (p. 61). In other words, what we say and think are two different things. Discourse is also an idea that language is planned according to different areas of social life, and a way of talking about and understanding the world (Jorgensen & Phillips, 2002). Discourses are made up of practices, forms and objects (Mill, 2004). It depends on the understanding that there are much more meanings when people communicate than simply just transferring information (University H., 2008). Like Foucault said , " what i said is not what

Orientalism is one of the discourses in the film which would be analysed under the category of gender. Orientalism is one of the main themes that is analysed which is a discursive practice in M.Butterfly. Orientalism has three aspects , one of them is history , which is the changing of cultural and historical relationship between Europe and Asia that has a 4000 year old history , secondly , academic discipline ,which is how the West studies various of things about Oriental cultures and traditions ; and thirdly , ideological suppositions , which are how people have fantasies and images about how the Orients are (Said, 1985). Orientalism is something that the West stereotypes and assumes by making statements of things and this is an example why it is a part of discourse because , Foucault (as cited by Mill, 2004) stated that what you say or do is not literally the meaning of it . The image of the East is clearly stereotyped by the West and it is a dream and fantasy of the Occident, which was an image that is also constructed by the West of the East's reality. There are a few ideas of gender through the discourse of Orientalism. One of them is by Gallimard. This is because, after watching Song perform Puccini's Madame Butterfly, he told Song after that, it is a beautiful story because the image in his head of an oriental woman is fulfilled. On the other hand, in the theatre script , Gallimard saw Song Living as a perfect human while acting as Cio Cio San and then he acts as if he is Pinkerton and stated that ‘ i once loved , and was loved by , the perfect woman ‘ (Hwang, 1988, Act One , Scene 11) in the play and also described Oriental woman having " the grace and delicacy‘ (Hwang, 1988, Act One , Scene Six). All these Orientalism stereotypes makes assumptions about gender and feminine because Gallimard has a fantasy of